TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8480, 11 May 1893, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Newspapers to hand by the Arming in last mail give an alarming Ulster. account of the excitement prevailing in Ulster over the Home Bale Bill. A correspondent of the Daily Telegraph after travelling through the district writes:— " Plainly, and without waste of words, I do assure your readers that the general conviction ia that no precaution which cau now be taken by the British Government here will prevent bloodshed and civil war in more or less aggravated form if the Home Rule Bill passes into law. To any inclined to question whether there is reason for anxiety about the condition of Ulster, I would like to inform them that, notwithstanding Mr Morley's denial, the military authorities have for. over a week been seeking to find barrack accommodation in Belfast for troops. That there may be no doubt, the names of the owners of property who were approached, and that of one of the two officers, Major , can. be given when necessary. Still more, it may be of passing interest to add that certain trusty Scotlandyard detectives have, arrived in Belfast, doubtless to make authorised eearch as to the extent and truth of the organising and arming going on. ' That part of Scotland situated in the North of Ireland' is, I repeat, in dead earnest, and the movement that has gathered such force is not likely to be ' put down ' by mere constabulary."

The same correspondent states that a guarantee fund is being privately subscribed, which is really to be a sort of war chest. Four distinguished Irishmen had put down their .namee for no less Mian £50,000 apiece, the Mayor of Belfast figured for £10,000, while others had come forward so liberally, that when he wrote the fund already reached over a million, sterling. These facts sufficiently show how deeply popular feeling in Ulster must have been stirred by Mr Gladstone's proposate. The temper of the House of Commons is sufficiently manifested by the cable messages we published yesterday.

The Prince of Wales Ancient Records paid a visit to" the of Record Office in Fetter Old England. Lane the other day

[ and inspected with ; much interest the documentary treasures it contains. These extend over a period ranging from the earliest Saxon times to within twenty years of the present time. Among the HSS exhibited were the two vellum volumes known as Domesday Book, containing a record of the survey/nade by William the Conqueror of all the land in England. These volumes are eight centuries old, but the ink, we are told, has not faded, and the leaves are .bub slightly discoloured. The treaty signed by Henry VIII. and Francis 1., known as that of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, was produced for inspection with the gold aeal attached, wrought by Cellini. Among other historic documents also showa may be mentioned the Gunpowder Book, containing all letters and proceedings relating to the plot, with the signature of Guy Fawkes after being tortured in the Tower, and Cardinal Wolsey'e letter to Henry VIII. asking for mercy after his fall. There was also to be seen Wellington's despatch, dated June 19th, 1815, announcing the result of the Battle of Waterloo, and one from Lord Nelson, dated 1795, giving an account of his services in connection with Lord Hood.' The Prince was enabled to examine, which he did closely, and we may well imagine with some emotion, the rolls of all tha Sovereigns of England, beginning with the earliest And ending with that of her Majesty. He had placed before him a charter over a thousand years old, having been granted by King Edgar in 764 a.d. It is a little surprising to learn that this is the first occasion upon which a member of the Royal Family of England has publicly visited the Record Office. There could be no more convincing illustration of the venerableness and the stability of ifriglfoh institutions than the unbroken continuity of its State records, extending over so long a period.

It seem to be taken as French Critics a literary axiom thai and English poetry v ontranslatIVriters., able. The attempts to give Shakespeare's plays a French dress have for the most part resalted in grotesque failure, and * judging from Voltaire's curious exhibitions of incompetence, it, seemed,at one time at if

French critics were incapable even of understanding the works of onr greatest writers of poetry. M. Tame, whose death we have recently had to deplore, showed, however, that heconld appreciate English literature' as well as Eut'lish people and English institutions. Perhaps a more remarkable instance of a French writer showing not only a thorough graep of au English, author, but being able to offer a bold and original criticism of his works, is afforded by M. Scherer'a review of Milton published some years ago. M. Scherer took a view of the great epic poet entirely distinct from the conventionalities of Addison and the glittering rhetoric of Macaulay. He unhesitatingly pointed out many grave blemishes even in " Paradise Lost," and his criticism won cordial approval from no less an authority thau Matthew Arnold. Abovcall however, the aubtle, delicate, exhaustive work of Saint-Beuve fully redeems the reputation of French critics for being able to understand English literature. Whether as a whole it can be satisfactorily turned into French without losing moat of its sap and savour in the process is another matter.

Undeterred by the failures of Bums his predecessors, a French

in writer, M. Auguste Angellier, French, of the Faculty of Letters at

Lille, has just been attempting the extremely difficult task of unfolding to his countrymen the lessons of Bnrns , life and character, and the still more arduous work of making them understand his poetry. The life is admitted by English critics to be sympathetic and honest, and on the whole well done. M. Angellier took a good deal of pains over it. He visited all the shrines of Bums, inspected all the Burns relics, and studied with great care and industry all the literature of his subject. When we come to the translations of illustrative passages of the poetry, however, it is impossible to resist a smile. For " We' are ua fou," M. Angellier gives his readers "Nous n'itions pas tres-gris" and for "a drappie in our e'e" he presents them with "une petite goutte dans Voeil." The original humour of the allusion is lost, and there is instead a grotesque adherence to literal matter of fact which is decidedly comic. Of course, we ought to bear in mind that pretty much the same effect would'be produced by a verbal translation into English. As an example of M. Angellier's work we may quoto the following verse from *' John Anderson, my Jo ":— " John Anderson, moo amoureux, John, Quand nous nous connumes d'abord, Yob cheveux etaieat noirs comme le corbeau,

Et votre beau front otait poli, Mais maintenant votre front est clauve, John, Vos cheveux sont pareils a la neige Mais benie soit votre tdte blanche, John Anderson, mon amoureux, John." That it is not much easier to convey the sentiment even of one of Burns's English poems into a French rendering is shown by the following version of " Had we never loved so kindly" :—

" Si nous n'avions jamais aime" si passione*ment, Si nous u'avions jamais aime , si aveuglement, Si nous ne noue etious jamais vua ou jamais quittus, Nous n'aurions jamais eu noa cceurs brises."

We agree with an English contemporary that Burns is not likely to become very popular in France. Judging by these extracts, the French people may bo forgiven for imagining that he was in the habit of writing very bald commonplaces in very matter-of-fact language.